Hi, Totally New To All This

[Rudders666]

Hi all. I'm totally new to this whole thing. BMW and tuning both at the same time. I'll ubdoubtedly need advice as we go along to tune by Beemer. I've just bought myself a 318i SE so any ideas for tuning to increase my horsepower etc would be excellent.

Thanks a lot and nice to be joining you all,

Pete

[waynne]

Hi Pete - really nice to have you along - first off read the articles in the main site and you'll get a good grasp of what does what. If you post an intro in the BMW section below you'll be able to get some in depth answers to your BMW Questions. Nice car by the way and there is a lot you can do to it!

Are there any Modifications on the car at all yet? Do you still want economy and reliability? How much are you looking to spend?

[Rudders666]

It's totally standard as far as i'm aware so a rather measly 115bhp to kick off. I woudl like economy for now at least and the reliability is a bit of a must to be fair isn't it?

I don't really know how much i'm looking to spend at the moment it's just kind of as and when if you know what i mean. Bits n bats here and there.

At least the car's in awesome condition for it's age it was like buying a brand new car when i picked it up last Saturday.

I've been offered a super chip and fitting by a friend of mine but being a car modding novice i don't have much of a clue, although i imagine it'll be a hell of a lot faster with one.

I just really want to know the basic Modifications to start improving the BHP amongst other things. I think generally the best first bits to put on a car are nice big alloys and an exhaust system. I had a K&N on my old car but it seemed a bit flat and not especially loud etc.

Any help would be great!

Cheers again,

Pete

[waynne]

You're sport on with an exaust system get a sports cat as well for the full effect. Leave a remap to last though for the best results. Panel air filters would work well -keeping economy and giving a little more top end grunt.

Think about doing the cams to a profile of about 245o and adding NoS - both Modifications give a lot more power for relatively little money. A proper remap will lift the rev limiter as well so you can hit the redline! Weight reduction should also be considered as these cars a heavy motorway cruisers. If you can get a lower ration gearbox you will improve your accelleration as well.

I hope that this little lot helps get you started off

Engine swaps are also worth looking into and if this floats your boat then save your money for a nice M series engine and put that in instead!

[Rudders666]

Thanks very much for all your information thus far.

I have a friend that's a mechanic and he seems to think a CaT bypass system would be the most beneficial to me for starters or some kind of system where you don't have to chop and change for MOT's all the time.

Any ideas on this subject?

Also what about sports styling? Mine alraedy has side skirts on it i was just wondering about front and rear aprons, a good idea?

[waynne]

As far as styling goes - carbon fibre bonnet - chrome vents in the wing and front and rear spoilers! Nice. Did you see this page? http://www.torquecars.com/bmw/bmw-range.php I'll post up some more pics of that car when I get a chance!

The front and rear aprons with side skirts can keep the car stable stopping air from going underneath (in reality just do it for looks you wont notice much effect in the real world.)

The Alpina kits looks pretty nice but they are very hard to get!

The decats are a pain as you will not pass an mot - a high flow sports cat is the best compromise mated to a sports header manifold. Cost wise sports cats are not that much more than a standard OEM cat.

Have you tried CA Automotive?

[wizzer]

Hi and welcome,